The Newsletter of St John’s Church of Scotland: Carluke

December 2018

St John’s Church of Scotland: Carluke, is a registered Scottish Charity, No SC004066

Dear members

I thank my God every time I remember you.We read this verse of Scripture in Philippians 1:3. Just as Paul said it tothe people he loved, so do I say it to you and our church family at StJohn’s. God has blessed us with a wonderful congregation of God-fearingpeople who are kind and caring. We have had a fantastic year, with lots ofactivities to mark our 175 years of service and mission. I am continuallyblown away by your compassion, generosity and unwavering faith inChrist Jesus. These virtues have been a part of who we are as acongregation over the years, and I do pray and hope that we can take theseon into the future.Another Advent season is here, the beginning of the Church’s newliturgical year. It is a time for us to be alive and awake, to become evermore watchful and faithful disciples. God’s people of old yearned for aSaviour, who would deliver them from their enemies and ensure their well-being. The Scripture teaches us that in the fullness of time a loving Fatheranswered this longing by sending Jesus Christ his beloved Son. ThroughJesus public ministry, his death and resurrection Christ has revealed to usthe saving plan and love of God. The season of Advent offers us aspiritual wake-up call as we prepare ourselves to celebrate the birth ofJesus Christ, and as we look, to the final coming of Christ. Jesus tells usthat we “must stand ready because the Son of Man is coming at an houryou do not expect” (Matthew 24:44).May this season of Advent find us awake and watchful in prayer, ready towelcome the Saviour, and above all to celebrate with joy, love and peacethe wonder of Christ’s birth among us at Christmas time.Wishing you the great joy of Advent and Christmas.God bless you!

Rev Dr Elijah ObinnaMinister

Pastoral Letter

Vestry Times - Wednesdays and Fridays 9:30 am - 12:30 pm

Regular Worship TimesSunday Morning Prayers - 10:20 - 10:50 am, before morning service.Normal Sunday Services are held at 11:00 am.A short evening service, with prayers for healing, is normally held on the

second Sunday of each month at 7:00 pmA Praise Service is held on the last Sunday of the month, also at 7:00 pm.A short, mid-week service is held on Thursdays at 10:30 am.

Diary: December 2018 to March 2019

Forthcoming Special Events and Services

December Sun 9: 11:00 Guest preacher, Rev Prof David Ferguson. 12:00 Soup Lunch in aid of the HIV/AIDS programme

19:00 Christian Aid Carol ServiceSun 16: 09:30 Christmas Breakfast

11:00 All-Age Service Mon 24: 23:00 Christmas Eve Service

Tue 25: 12:30 Christmas Lunch

January 2018 Sun 6: 11:00 Joint New Year Service at United Reformed Church

Sun 13: 11:00 Holy Communion and Ordination of EldersMon 14: 19:00 Kirk Session

Sat 26: tbc Youth PraiseSun 27: 11:00 Youth Service

19:00 Evening Praise Service

FebruarySun 10: 19:00 Evening Healing Service

Sun 17: 12:00 Soup Lunch Sun 24: 19:00 Evening Praise Service

MarchSun 3: 11:00 Sacrament of Holy Communion

Thu 7: 10:30 Holy Communion at Thursday ServiceSun 10: 19:00 Evening Healing Service

Please watch Sunday bulletins, local press or visit the church website forand changes and more information as it becomes available.

4 St John’s News

December 1914 – The war is six months old. The opposing sides dig infor the winter. Soldiers resign themselves to spending Christmas in thefields of warCenturies before and thousands of miles away, another group of men wasout in the fields at night.Christmas Eve, and the British troops see something strange on thehorizon: The Germans are putting up Christmas trees! What arethose lights?Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among the shepherds, and theradiance of the Lord’s gloryAs the guns fell silent, there’s a new sound on the wind. From acrossno-man’s land comes the sound of singing. Stille Nacht, Heilige NachtThe opposing sides sing back into the darkness, trading verses,harmonising with the enemy.All is calm. All is bright/Sleep in heavenly peace/ Schlaf in HimmlischerRuh!Suddenly a great army of heaven’s angels appeared with the angel, singingpraises to God: Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth tothose with whom God is pleased.Christmas morning, one by one, men dare to put their heads above theparapet, then stand on it. Now they are advancing towards the enemy,open hands outstretched.When the angels returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other“Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened”Soon no-man’s land is full of officers and men of both sides, shakinghands, talking, exchanging souvenirs. Someone brings out a ball andcoats are thrown down. With dozens on either side, in between theshell craters, a shambolic game of football breaks out.They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph, and there was thebaby lying in a manger.

A Tale of Two Christmases

Continued opposite

December 2018 5

On Sunday 18 November, Rev Miller Milloy was our guest preacher.During the service, he read out a letter from Rev Stanley Firth, who wasour minister from 1970 to 1976. Here is the text of his letter:To those of you who remember us from the days in the 1970s, when wewere part of the St John’s family, we send very special greetings. Weremember our time in Carluke, and the people we got to know there, withgreat affection.We still bring you folks, and St John’s Church, before the Lord in ourprayers. However, greetings also to those who don’t know us. We are grateful to beable to see the St John’s Newsletter online, each time it is published, so wedo keep up with your news. May the Lord bless and lead you all, as youcontinue to be a vital part of God’s People in your area. We ourselves are now rather elderly, and there is quite a lot of physicaldisablement in our lifestyle. Nevertheless, we don’t feel spirituallydisabled, and continue, in various ways, in trying to serve our HeavenlyFather’ loving purposes, as He leads us.Warmest good wishes to you all

Stan and Mavis (Firth)

Letter from Stanley Firth

The following morning, the order comes through to resume firing. Themen refuse or shoot at the sky. But then the artillery starts up again,the shells begin to fall. The Christmas truce is gone, nothing but ahopeful memory preserved in letters and diaries. “No one is going tobelieve what just happened”After seeing Him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened andwhat the angel had said to them about this child. All who heard theshepherds’ story were astonished.Both the Christmas truce and the first Christmas story were breakthroughsof peace. The 1914 ceasefire could not last, but the peace that God sent tous in Jesus endures.

6 St John’s News

On Guild Sunday, 18 November 2018, GuildPresident, Mairi Somerville, reported that,through their fund-raising, between 2015 and2018, The Guild have raised an incredible£733,440!The focus of the Guild's work over the next threeyears is to journey together with our communities,nation and world, both in sharing our faith andresources, and in doing everything in our power tobring about positive change. The six projects chosento reflect this are:Faith in Young People -The Boys' Brigade: Looking at the areas of faith,

community partnership and personal growth for BB boysacross Scotland.

Malawi Fruits - Growing the Future: Encouraging young people todevelop farming skills beyond subsistence level;Providing solar-powered irrigation pumps and othermachinery; Connecting young people with goodprocessing and marketing facilities.

Free to Live Trust - Seema's Project: Providing support andaccommodation to the children of sex workers in Pune,India.

Sailors' Society - A Chaplain for Our Ports: Offering advice and supportto merchant sailors in around 25 locations in Scotland.

World Mission Council - Journeying Together: Offering educational andtraining support, health advice and life skills to teenagemothers and other young women in Zambia.

CrossReach - Join Up the Dots Tackling the problems of loneliness and:social isolation in Scotland.

To read more about any of these projects, visitwww.churchofscotland.org.uk/serve/the_guild/projects

The Guild Projects 2018-22

December 2018 7

Jar of Grace Appeal 2018-19Most of us take it clean water at the turn of a tap forgranted. We know where our next meal will come from.We have homes where we can feel safe and we can heatthose homes. However, all over the world, as well as inour own country, there are those who are not nearly as

fortunate as we are - and so very many of them are children.UNICEF works throughout the world to help protect children in danger,whatever that danger, and the Jar of Grace appeal this year will help

If you would like to help UNICEF support some of the world’s mostvulnerable children, please consider taking part in this year’s Jar of Graceappeal. This is how it works:

● In the New Year you collect a sheet giving information about theappeal;

● This sheet has a label which you detach and stick onto an empty jar;● At each meal, in thanks for the food you are about to eat, you put

money into your Jar of Grace;● After Easter the money you have put into your jar will be collected,

counted and sent to UNICEF.Many thanks in anticipation of your support!

CS

Here are just some of the ways in which the money you raise couldhelp:

● £12 could help provide over two weeks’ worth of life saving foodfor a severely malnourished child;

● £15 could provide exercise books for a class of 50 children to helpthem continue their education in times of crisis;

● £18 could provide 5,000 water purifying tablets to give familiesclean, safe water;

● £30 could help provide life-saving therapeutic milk to treat fourseverely malnourished children.

8 St John’s News

Be a Peacemaker for Christian AidAt Christmas time, we celebrate the birth of Jesus, given to bringhope, love, peace and justice to a broken world. We get the chance tospend time with our loved ones celebrating the Prince of Peace.However, for millions of people this Christmas, peace seems like animpossible dream.Violence and conflict remain the norm for many across the globe, fromSouth Sudan to Colombia. In 2016, more countries experienced violentconflict than at any time in nearly 30 years. If current trends persist, by2030 more than half of the world’s poorest people will be living incountries affected by high levels of violence. But while peace is brokenevery day, it is also built every day, through the tireless work ofpeacemakers.This Christmas, Christian Aid is calling for you to stand together withpeacemakers around the world, who are working tirelessly to bring hope toseemingly hopeless situations. In South Sudan, Bishop Paride Taban isrelentless in working for peace in his country where millions of citizensare suffering from hunger, caused by years of civil war. Now in hiseighties, he believes that peace is something you practise, and every day herepeats 28 words for peace. “If all put these 28 words into their hearts, andevery day they repeat them, there will be no war in South Sudan, there willbe permanent peace in South Sudan.”Elsewhere in the shadow of violence and conflict, Diana Abbas sows theseeds of peace through counselling and therapy She is the onlypsychologist at a childrens’ centre run by Association Najdeh, ChristianAid’s partner in Lebanon. Through psychotherapy, literacy classes and arttherapy, the centre gives young Palestinian refugees the chance toovercome the violence they have witnessed. Thanks to Diana and others atthe centre, more children can find peace. Now more than ever, we needpeace. With your support, peace is possible this Christmas. Matthew, Ch5v9 shows the blessings that lie within peace making in this world. It is upto us to do what we can in our daily lives to help frontline peacemakerslike Diana and Bishop Paride.

Christian Aid

December 2018 9

You can be a peacemaker with your donation to ‘Christmas’ Aid, an appealto raise vital funds for Christian Aid’s work. It costs just £10 to pay forthree young women to attend a community dialogue event that will helpthem learn about effective ways of reducing crime. £130 could pay for apsychologist to provide one week’s worth of counselling and therapy toyoung refugees in Lebanon.Will you stand with the peacemakers this Christmas?If you didn’t manage along to our Carol Service on Sunday 9 Decemberbut would like to make a donation to Christian Aid’s Christmas Appeal, it’snot too late. Speak to Iris Nelson, Sandra Peat or Wilma Watson in church,

or, alternatively, you can donate on-line bygoing to caid.org.uk/christmas

IN

The Older I get...the simpler my holiday preparations become...the closer I feel to family and friends as I write my Christmas cards...the more I cherish the oldest ornaments...the more fondly I remember Christmases past...the longer I hold on to a holiday hug...the more I realize Christmas is a matter of the heart...the tighter my throat gets when I sing “Silent Night”...the more I enjoy giving than receiving...the more I try to see Christmas through the eyes of a child...the longer I sit at night in the glow of the Christmas tree...the more wondrously beautiful the Christmas story is...the deeper my awe at God’s infinite love…

the More I Love Christmas!...

10 St John’s News

St John’s 175As 2018 draws to a close, so too our 175th

Anniversary celebrations come to a conclusion.It's been an eventful year in the life of St John's.The Anniversary song has been sung withenthusiasm Sunday by Sunday. Past ministersrenewed their links with our congregation whenthey visited and took to the pulpit again. TheModerator, Rt Rev Susan Brown, took time out ofa busy schedule to share worship with us at ourAnniversary service on 26 August, when she also presented longservice certificates to a number of our elders.Memories were reawakened through the photographic exhibition,illustrating the story of St John's from the Disruption to the present day.The Anniversary banner was dedicated at the Anniversary service and hasa permanent position in the sanctuary. On the occasion of each visitingminister, a splendid buffet lunch was provided, when many of us enjoyedan extended time of fellowship. It was also a delight to have Grace Notescontribute to our worship on numerous occasions throughout the year. Ouryoung people in the Sunday School produced a commemorative tea towel,featuring their own art work.The Anniversary also gave us an opportunity to reach out beyond StJohn's, in the spirit of 1843, and look to the future by returning somethingto the community. Therefore, at our Communion service on 2 December,cheques were presented to Street Level and Clydesdale Christian YouthTrust. What better way to look to the future than by investment in ouryoung people?Finally on 7 December, 112 members and friends of the congregationbrought the celebrations to a conclusion with a lively ceilidh in StAthanasius Community Hall.

Although our 175th Anniversary year has come to an end, the story of StJohn's will go on.Thank you to everyone who played a part in our special year.

IN

December 2018 11

At the Communion service on 2 December, seven new Elders wereordained and admitted to the Kirk Session.Our Minister, Rev Dr Elijah Obinna advised the congregation that it hadbeen 18 years since the last intake of new elders and it had been agreed bythe Kirk Session that the time was right to elect new Elders. It was clearthat there were many worthy candidatesIn his preamble to the ordination, Dr Obinna said:

There are different gifts but it is the same Spirit who gives them;there are different ways of serving God but it is the same Lord whois served. God works through different people in different waysbut it is the same God who achieves his purpose through them all.Each one is given a gift by the same Spirit to use for the commongood of God's people.

Session Clerk, Glenn Walker, then read out the Formula which wasfollowed by the Elders elect signing of the Formula. Thereafter, the newElders received the Right Hand of Fellowship from brother and sisterElders and took their place amongst them in the Chancel.As their first duty, the new Elders participated in the serving ofCommunion.Those elected to the Eldership were: Margaret Dougan, Gillian Forrest,Karen Gillon, Jacqueline Hardisty, Shona Keay, Ann Walker and JeanWatson.Two other candidates for the Eldership, who were unable to attend will beordained and admitted to the Session at a special Communion service onSunday 13 January 2019.

New Elders

12 St John’s News

Chair of the Street Level Management Committee, John Wilcox, tells alittle of the benefits of the project.

The View from the BottomAccording to my records, 2018 is the 25th anniversary of theestablishment of Street Level. A big thank you to everybody who hasbeen involved in the project over the years — you should be rightlyproud of what has been achieved.Faces have changed over the years as people have joined and left theproject. Currently a team of 8 volunteers is fully focussed on managingour small but successful youth project. This team is hugely aware of itsresponsibility to the people of Carluke to ensure the project is sustainedand well managed, and that our young people are kept safe.In the last couple of years we have revisited the vision and values for theproject and brought them up to date. We have also conducted a full reviewof the business risks we face and put in place procedures to mitigate thoserisks. Staff contracts have been re-written to highlight the importance ofchild safety and proper relationships in all that we do and we are about tolaunch a whistle- blowing procedure to supplement statutory safeguarding.And then there is data protection...As you might expect, it is a battle every year to balance the books. Wemaintain a tight control on costs but we survive only because of thecontinuing generosity of individuals and groups in the town. So thankyou!Working with and for young people is both a privilege and a challenge.There is much to do. If you feel you would like to contribute to thisimportant work, speak to Jim Mclntyre in the first instance.

JW

Street Level

December 2018 13

One of Street LeveI's most WeII-kent faces, Andrew Berry, shares his StreetLevel journey, and how it has made a difference to his life.I first went along to Street Level when I was aged 11 and ready tomove into P7 at Kirkton Primary School. I went along to the P7/1stYear group on a Thursday evening and also on a Saturday morning.At the start there was quite a few of my friends from Kirkton wentalong but then eventually there was only a few attended.It was a great way of making new friends and when I went to CarlukeHigh School I knew people from some of the other schools in Carluke. Atthe P7/1st year group night we played pool, PlayStation games and oftenhad tournaments involving all of us and started building relationships withthe staff within the Centre. When I moved into second year at HighSchool I continued to attend the Centre and during the holidays my mumoften threatened to move my bed in!In 2014 I became totally wheelchair dependent. After 5 weeks in hospitaland returning home, Street Level became my safe haven. The Centre wastotally accessible and both staff and kids continued to treat me the same asbefore but I could also rely on everyone for support and the staff werealways there to talk to.In 2017 as part of my Boys’ Brigade Queen's Badge I started to volunteerwithin Street Level at the P7/1st year group. This was a differentexperience being back and helping the staff to run the night, coordinatingactivities or just being there to support the kids. It really felt like I wasgiving something back and as a volunteer my relationship with both thekids and the staff started to change. All part of growing up.It's been a great experience and I've made a lot of friends along the way. Icontinue to be a volunteer within the Centre and hopefully become a rolemodel to encourage kids to continue to attend and continue Street Levelssuccess. The journey continues!!!!

AB